


Uncommon Ancestry

by Eternal_Phantom



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: But I hope it's still enjoyable, Don't Like Don't Read, He is a bully and an abuser, He will end up a combination of batman and Zatanna though, Izuku does not inherit One for All, No Bakugou excuser here, Other, This is written in snippets so will be out of order
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 14,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26455291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_Phantom/pseuds/Eternal_Phantom
Summary: Crushed after being told he couldn't be a hero by All Might, Izuku Midoriya falls into a depressive slump. Desperate to help her son, Inko tries to call upon a spirit said to look after her family to help. The Spirit, a kitsune named Mystery, awakens the ghosts of three of their ancestors from the pre-quirk era. And together they'll make sure Izuku can be the greatest hero of all time.
Relationships: Lewvithur
Comments: 97
Kudos: 244





	1. Return of the Ancestors

Inko thought she really could hate All Might.

For years her son had endured more than any child should bear, and in the end it was his own hero who broke him. Izuku had nearly been killed by the Slime Villain, twice! but what haunted him was the words 'You can't be a hero without a quirk'. The spark had left him. And she couldn't think of anything she could do to help.

Except this.

She felt ridiculous as she pulled out the small metal tag with a hole on the top and a stylized question mark. It was said to belong to a powerful spirit that watched after her family. She didn't believe in such things normally, but if there was even the slightest chance such a spirit was real and could help her son, she'd take it. She lit incense and prayed. The lights flickered and she saws the silhouette of a massive nine tailed form against the wall before it vanished.

“Hello Inko, daughter of Vivi, daughter of Mushi. What can I do for you?”

She turned and saw a small white dog with yellow glasses waiting for an answer. The logical part of her brain wanted to deny what was in front of her was a spirit. Animals with quirks were rare but not unheard of, one was a school principal after all. But this was her last hope, so she forged ahead. She told the dog about her son’s love of heroes. Of how 80% or the worlds population, almost 100% of the younger generation has some kind of superpower. Of how her son doesn’t. How he strived to be a hero, studied every hero no matter how big or small. How he was bulled for not having a quirk and the teachers would look the other way. How he never gave up until the man he looked up to above all others told him he couldn’t be a hero, confirmed in his mind the years of being told he was worthless. And she begged this being that looked like a dog but wasn’t to help her son, that’s she’d pay any cost- 

“ _Never_ say that,” The creature said sharply. “There are those who would take you up on it." 

Inko frowned stubbornly _So much like Vivi_ "For my son, I’d give anything." 

"And if they asked for his life or soul? You’d already said anything, you’d have to comply." 

Inko’s hands flew to her mouth as the color drained from her skin. 

"I would never ask that of you,” The creature said, a warm kindness in his voice, though his tone was still firm. “But others would. I merely want you to not make such risky statements where another might take advantage. Tell me Inko, do you have a box that’s been passed down from your family? A metal box with English writing a little over a meter in length?" 

Inko knew the box he meant. She had inherited along with the tag that summoned him. "It’s in the attic." 

"Let’s get it then. What’s in the box should help your son more than I could.”. 

Inko shakily gets to her feet and lead the way. The attic was small, with boxes for various seasonal items sealed in. The box she was looking for was in the back. She dusted it off so the letters are visible. ‘Yukino’ was written in kanji on the top. There was two words in English too, she’d translated them on a lark while she was studying for her degree in library science. Pepper on the right and Kingsmen of the left. What 'From Snow’ had to do with a fruit or a King’s guard she didn’t know; no one had ever been able to open the box. 

The thing that certainly wasn’t a dog lightly touched it with his paw and it sprang open. Inside was what seemed to be an old metal baseball bat covered in ofuda. Beneath it was a star pin, a set of violet tinted glasses, and a golden heart shaped locket. The beast blew lightly on the three objects on the bottom. “Vivi, Lewis, Arthur. It’s time to wake up, Your great-great granddaughter and great-great-great grandson need you.”

At first it seemed nothing happens. Then the items began to spark. The golden locket was the first to rise in the air, purple fire forming a massive skeletal figure. Then a powder of delicate blue ice pushed up the glasses and formed a more petite one. The star tooks a few tries, false starts before the electricity forms into a much more lanky skeleton, one arm glowing unnaturally. And for the first time Inko feared she’s made a mistake. She doesn’t know what these powers she’s courted are. What if they’re dangerous? What if they hurt her Izuku?

“Look at you!” The blue themed skeleton hovered over her in glee. “You have to tell me about yourself. What’s your favorite color? Is it green? What do you do for fun? Wait, Mystery implied you had a son? What’s he like? Do you have a husband? A Wife? Both?" 

"Vivi, chill. You might want to put on your face. You’re scaring our granddaughter.” True to his word the lanky one shimmered and suddenly seemed much more human. A Caucasian man with blonde spiked hair. 

He approached Inko much more slowly. “My name is Kingsman Arthur. You may not have heard of me, but I’m your couple of times great grandfather. This is my wife, Vivi, and our husband, Lewis.” The last skeleton, who’d taken on the appearance of a dark skinned man bowed.

Inko bowed back, still a little shakily. 

“None of that.” The exuberance had left Vivi’s voice, instead leaving a soft gentle tone. “You’re family, Inko-chan. You have nothing to fear from any of us. We’re here to help, whatever you need.” 

“Shouldn’t you not offer open ended things?" 

"You learn quickly.” The not-dog commended. “Obviously not a trait you picked up from any of these three." 

"Shut it furball,” Vivi said, albeit with a note of teasing in her voice. “And technically you’re correct, but Mystery wouldn’t have awoken us if you had less than pure intentions. So what do you need that he couldn’t help with?" 

"My son’s dream was shattered yesterday and it feels like his spirit died with it. I don’t know how to help and people have a history of not taking him seriously.” She’d lost track of how many times she’d been told 'quirkless people are just a little more fragile’ along with a shrug when she’d brought him in with an injury. Of being told 'he has to learn to accept facts’ when she confronted the teachers over the bullying he received for being quirkless. As if to society her son was worth less for his lack of quirk when he meant the world to her. Her hands balled angrily. “Izuku is selfless, brave, and intelligent. He risked his life to save someone who had bullied him, when the authorities were frozen in fear. Only for him to be berated by the professional heroes while his childhood bully is praised for his bravery and told he had what it takes to be a professional hero when all he did was get captured and destroy half the shopping district with the same quirk he’s used to hurt my boy." 

She looked at them with fierce determination, tears streaming from her eyes. "I want my son to be happy. I want him to thrive. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and he deserves better than to believe not having a quirk means he has no worth." 

"Let’s introduce ourselves to him then.” Arthur said casually. “What? We have to talk to him if we’re going to help. Remember how well not talking to each other about important things went? It went bad is how it went.”

“Bad is an understatment,” Lewis agreed.

“Mom, are you okay? I thought I heard voices…” Izuku’s voice trailed off as he saw two strange men in his attic along with a floaty skull lady. He felt himself tense. If these were villain trying to rob his house- 

“Oh my gosh, he’s got freckles just like you did at that age Artie!” The skull lady flew over to him “Remember Lew?“

"How could I forget, he was adorable.” Lewis said shaking his head. “But you _really_ need to put on your face dear." 

"Who are you people, what do you want?” Izuku was scanning the rooms, trying to find the best way to get his Mom to safety. If only he knew their quirks. 

“They’re, well, they’re you grandparents Izuku.” Inko explained. “Grandmother Vivi, and Grandfathers Arthur and Lewis." 

"A few greats need to be thrown in there, but yeah.” Arthur sheepishly put one hand behind his head. “I guess you can say we’re family guardians. Your mother summoned us to help you." 

"Help me, with what?" 

"That’s what we were finding you to discuss.” The blue skull lady now had a face. “Tell us what happened, Izuku-kun." 

Izuku looked at his Mom. "This is about yesterday isn’t it. I just got a wake up call to reality, that’s all." 

"Bullshit.” Vivi said brightly. “Try the whole story.”

Izuku was taken aback. "Well, I mean, we live in a superhuman society. Eighty percent or more of the world has some kind of super power.“ 

"Really?” he heard who he took to be Grandfather Arthur whisper to a dog he hadn’t noticed before, The dog nodded. 

“And with that came the rise of heroes on villains. And when I was a child, I wanted more than anything else to be a hero. Especially a Hero like All Might. He’s amazing! His sheer power is incredible. He saves so many people and no matter hope bad the situation is, he always smiles. He brings hope to everyone. I wanted to be just like him. But…I didn’t have the power. Since I was four everyone told me becoming a hero was a pipe dream, but I thought if I worked hard enough, studied hard enough, I could do it. I even sent in an application for UA, the best Hero school in the world but-” Like his mother, tears were beginning to stream down Izuku’s cheeks. “Yesterday I met All Might. He saved me from a villain. And I asked him if I could be a hero how I was and he-he said no.” Izuku swiped his arm across his eyes. “I shouldn’t be surprised, right? It was obvious. And I caused even more trouble when I tried to save Kaachan from that villain." 

"And again I say Bullshit.” Vivi cut in. “From what your mother told us, you were the only one who was willing to help while the so-called heroes sat on their collective asses. That makes you more of a hero than they’ll ever be.”

Izuku wasn’t sure how that made him feel. The reassurance was nice, but it still felt a bit empty. So he had the spirit of a hero, but not the body? What good would that do?

“You mentioned a school. Is that the only method of becoming a hero?” Grandfather Lewis asked. 

“Well, technically you only need to pass the licensing exam, but it’s almost impossible to get through on self-study. There are other schools, but UA is the best with the highest pass rate. You need to do a written and a practical to get into the hero course, and no one knows what the practical is." 

"So we need to get you into the school first. What’s your power kiddo? Need to know what we’re working with." 

Izuku stiffened at Grandmother Vivi’s question. He’d thought they’d known. "I don’t have any power. I’m quirkless.” He braced himself, Waited for the 'what are you wasting our time for’ that every guidance councilor had given him. 

“Oh _that’s_ what that means.” Arthur nodded. “So you’re gonna Batman it.”

“Batman it?” Izuku was as baffled by the phrase as the fact that hearing he was quirkless hadn’t dissuaded them in the least 

“You don’t know who Batman is?” Arthur sounded aghast. 

“It’s been decades if not centuries, Art.” Lewis reminded him 

“Batman is forever.” Arthur grumbled. 

“Was that the movie with the nipples on the costume?” Vivi asked with a grin.

“ _Anyway_ ” Lewis turned the attention back to Izuku. “In our time, before superpowers were apparently a real thing, we had comic book characters and one of the most famous was a hero named Batman. There were multiple comic books, cartoon series, and movies abut him. One of the biggest debates was if Batman would win against Superman, a being so powerful he was night invulnerable and strong enough to change the planet’s rotation. And do you know what Batman’s superpower was?" 

Something Bat themed, huh. "Maybe echolocation? One at a frequency that could disorient even this Superman guy?" 

"This Superman guy?!” Arthur explained in disbelief. 

Lewis grinned. “Nope. He was, as you would put it, quirkless. Not a single superpower to him. Just cunning, creativity, a bunch of gadgets, and an indomitable will.“ 

"And martial arts training.” Vivi reminded. 

“And a really cool car,” Arthur added. 

Lewis rolled his eyes. “The point is, superpowers aren’t what being a hero is really about. Batman didn’t need them. Neither did Ironman, Black Widow, or Hawkeye. So if you want to be a hero, we’re going to help." 

"Right.” Vivi nodded. “Lewis can handle physical training, he was in the best shape of all of us in life. I can teach you melee combat with fists or a baseball bat. I know a little sword work, but nothing close to actual lessons. Arthur can do free running and strategy. I don’t know how much we can help with the written test though, our knowledge is too out of date. Inko-chan could you help him study for that?" 

Inko was taken aback for a moment. She didn’t know what she expected the spirits to do, besides possibly give her son a quirk of some kind. But they didn’t need him to have a quirk to believe his dream and supported him without questions. The way she wished she had done when he was four. "I…of course I can! I’m a librarian. I can find whatever books Izuku needs to help." 

"Speaking of books, we have another option on the table.” Mystery said with a smirk. “Quirks have been all the rage for a century and a half. Magic is all but forgotten. It would be something almost no one would have access to. Between Vivi and myself there is a fair amount of occult knowledge we could impart." 

"Magic is real? You’re offering to teach me _magic_?” This was a dream, it had to be. There was no way this was real. 

“Yes. But we have a mere ten months before your exam. Your schedule will be packed to the gills with little time for levity. It won’t be easy. I may not be able to guarantee you’ll get in on the first try. But I promise you this. With all of us helping, you will be a hero.”

All his life Izuku had craved hearing that he could be a hero. The sheer assurance that he _would_ be one was almost more than he could take. “Thank you! I won’t let you guys down." 

The three ghosts and kitsune smiled. "Of that we have no doubt.”


	2. Grandfather's kitchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Takes place the day after part one)

The first thing Inko noticed when she got home was the aroma. It smelled like home. Not the home she was raising her son in, but as a small girl. She follow the scent to the kitchen where Grandfather Lewis was busy working at the stove.

“That smells like Grandma’s curry,” She said softly.

“It should,” Lewis said with a warm smile. “Since I taught it to _her_ grandmother.”

“Mom wasn’t much interested in cooking. I thought the recipe was gone forever.” Inko leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, remembering her Grandmother bustling around in the kitchen.

“I suppose my recipe book didn’t survive the times.” Lewis said sadly. “I suppose I’ll have to rewrite it for you and Izuku.”

“You like to cook?” Inko asked.

  
  
Lewis chuckled. “I was raised in a family restaurant. Food’s in my very nature. It’s a good thing too. Otherwise Vivi would have survived on fast food and Arthur on energy drinks.” He rolled his eyes fondly.

It was strange, hearing about the Family Guardians as normal people, and not as these strange spirits here to save her family. But they were her ancestors, and as such must have been normal humans once. “Where are Grandmother Vivi and Grandfather Arthur?”

“In the attic with Mystery. Arthur’s working on some blueprints for gadgets and Vivi and Mystery are deciding looking into what’s the best kind of magic to teach him to start with. We’ll discuss our ideas over dessert.”

Inko’s eyes drifted to the oven and realized it was on. “You don’t have to go through all this trouble. You’re helping Izuku, that’s all I could ask for.”

Lewis shook his head. “Inko-chan, we’re not _just_ here for Izuku, we’re here to help you too. You’ve spent the last eleven years fretting because you didn’t know how to help, not to mention the pressure’s of raising your son alone. So let us take at least some of the load. You’re not alone Inko.”

Inko felt her knees weaken. If you had asked her, she would never have said she was alone. She had her son and her coworkers, after all. But while people knew her son was quirkless, no one knew about how she felt she had been failing him, ever since the day he asked her if he could still be a hero and she couldn’t answer.

She felt strong warm arms wrap around her and felt like a small child being comforted by a parent. ”It’s okay, Inko-chan. You did such a good job raising him. You made him kind and strong. He’s incredible, and he couldn’t have been if you weren’t a good mom. You did good.”  
  
Inko hugged her grandfather back, feeling a weight she didn’t know was there lifted. It was going to be okay.


	3. Magic Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during Izuku's training for the entrance exam

“So there’s no one way magic can be classified. Every discipline can have different methods of doing so, even multiple in cases where teachers use their own.” Vivi lectured.

Izuku was leaning against Mystery in his larger form, taking notes.

“For our lessons I’m going to divide magic into three categories: Ritual, Foci, and Instinctive.” She continued. “Ritual Magic involves a group focusing towards a specific goal. It can involve different things, like chants, dances, or spell circles. Foci is the most common. This uses an item with magical resonance to act as a focus both for magic and will. Wands are the common one in media, but they can be anything: Rings, crystals, bells, spell slips, glyphs. The final type, Instinctive, means a spell that’s become so routine to you that you can perform it without thinking, no need for foci of any kind. Now, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each type.”  
  


Izuku tapped his pencil against his lips, thinking. One thing all his grandparents agreed on was that his brain and analytic ability was his greatest asset and he needed to train that too. This was clearly an exercise in that as well as a lesson in magic.

“Since you have multiple people working together for rituals you can probably do much more powerful effects. However you’d need more people, which would be hard to find, and learning the steps sounds like a long and involved process. It’s not something that could be done spur of the moment, and probably not suited to hero work, where you have to be adaptable on the fly.”

“Foci would give you that adaptability and you’d be able to do it yourself, but the main problem would be whatever you were using could be taken away, leaving you without the benefit of any magic at all.”  
  


“Instinctive clearly sounds like the best, as it’s self reliant and you can’t be disarmed of it. But you said Foci was the most common, which means there’s a reason people don’t use it more.” Izuku began to mutter to himself. “It’s either hard to learn or has a high energy requirement or both. Hard to learn is just a matter of time in overcoming, but a high energy cost could be disastrous in the field if you accidentally weaken yourself too much or even knock yourself out mid battle.”  
  


“Right on both counts.” Mystery nuzzled him affectionately. “Though you should feel drained far enough in advance to avoid knocking yourself unconscious.”  
  


Izuku beamed under the attention. “It still feels almost unreal. That I’m actually going to use magic!”  
  


“Well it’s going to be real, kiddo.” Vivi was smiling just as brightly. “And we’re going to start today. Let’s see what focus works best for you.”


	4. Burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Takes place during training for the Entrance Exam)

Lewis considered it a small mercy washing machines hadn’t changed much in the last century or so (no matter how much Arthur complained about stagnating technology). He liked to be helpful, and doing chores around the house one way he could. Besides, Izuku usually did his own laundry and he barely had time to himself with his new training regime. 

Lewis pulled one of the school blazers to check the washing instructions, and noticed what looked like a burn on the shoulder, almost in the mark of a handprint.

****

**_Where do you think you’re going, Kingsmen?_ **

He shook his head, trying to erase the memory. Sometimes he didn’t understand how Arthur could have forgiven him, much less married him. He pulled out another blazer, only to find another burn on the upper arm. He emptied out the load and saw more burns on the sleeves of the jackets and shirts, and marks of patching on others. 

_Calm down. This doesn’t mean anything. He works in a place with fire, you got him that job yourself_ Still he’d need to check, that many burns would be a safety issue, which meant finding a different place for Izuku to work. And if it wasn’t- it has to be. No. Jumping to conclusions helped no one. He’d just ask his grandson himself, and he’d see there was nothing to worry about.

Lewis knocked gently on the door just above the All Might plaque. “Izu-kun, do you have a moment?”

Izuku popped his head up from the text he was studying. “Sure, Grandfather, what’s up?”  
  


Lewis opened the door, what Izuku had recognized as his signature housekeeping apron tied around his torso. "I was doing the laundry and noticed your shirts had a lot of burn marks, especially on the shoulder. Are there safety concerns in that kitchen?" 

"Oh, no the jobs going great. Those are from Kaachan.” Izuku’s voice dipped lower as he spoke. 

“What’s a Kaachan when it’s at home?” It better be something like a dog with fiery paws, because if it’s a person- _No, don’t even think it. Don’t let the past color the future._

“He’s one of my classmates. We were friends when we were kids, but that kinda of changed when his quirk came in and mine didn’t. He likes to call me Deku and burn my stuff. He was really mad when I was applying for UA because he thought he was the only person in the school worthy to go and-” Izuku cut off as Grandfather Lewis’s calm demeanor was betrayed by his hair burst into flames. “Grandfather?" 

"I’ll be right back.” Lewis turned around and began to float down the hall. 

“Grandfather?” Izuku ran after him, thankful Grampa Arthur and Grandma Vivi had come up to see what was happening.

“Lewlew, calm down, I haven’t seen you this worked up in centuries.” Vivi joked, thought there was concern in her voice. 

"I am calm.“ Lewis said in a tone that was anything but. 

"The bonfire on your head says otherwise, Big Guy. What’s wrong?" 

"What’s wrong is some pissant bully has been using his power to burn our Izu-kun because he thinks having a quirk gives him the right to.” Lewis’s hair was burning brighter and his appearance started to fade into his wraith form.

“Lewis, no.” Vivi said in a flat voice. 

“No, what do you mean no?” Lewis growled

"She means you can’t go full spirit of vengeance on a fourteen year old kid. Because that what we’re dealing with. A dumb kid.“ Lewis glared at him, petulantly. Arthur threw up his hands, "I’m not saying we do nothing. That’s assault, Lew. There are legal channels to handle this shit." 

"They won’t work.” All three, plus Inko who’d come to see what the commotion was about, turned to look at Izuku. “Kaachan is going to be a great hero, so the school won’t do anything to hurt his chances, since it makes them look good.”

Vivi let out a harsh laugh, “Are you kidding? That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard.” Izuku looked at her confused. “Seriously? They think someone who uses their quirk to assault classmates because he views them as lesser-" 

"Very illegal, by the way,” Arthur chimed in. 

"-is going to be a hero? Sounds like a villain if ever there was one.“

It felt like something shattered in Izuku. It had been a constant since they had been three, something every adult said. Katsuki Bakugou was going to be a great hero someday "That can’t be true, everyone says he’s going to be a great hero. His quirk -" 

"Means nothing to us,” Arthur waved it aside. “Has this guy ever done anything heroic?" 

_Of course_ Izuku wanted to say, but the words caught in his throat. He wracked his brain, trying to find something. He scoured every memory he had of Kaachan. There were plenty of people praising him for his ‘heroic’ quirk but…almost as soon as he’d gotten it he’d used it to attack and bully other. Izuku had once been his closest friend, but Kaachan had turned him in an instant the moment he wasn’t 'worthy’ enough. He considered everyone around him, even the teachers, just stepping stones to his success. He destroyed peoples things and reacted in violence when something didn’t go his way. Those weren’t the actions of a hero.

"I think we all need some rest.” Vivi cut in. “We’ll talk to the school tomorrow. If they don’t do anything, we lawyer up, because as my wonderful husband pointed out, this is very illegal behavior.” She floated up and kissed Lewis’s cheek. “I know you’re protective of our family, Love, but going out in a rage would do more harm than good." 

"I know, I know. I just-” Lewis’s flames died down. “There were burn marks on the shoulder of his clothes, a lot of them." 

And then Vivi understood. Back during the bad times Arthur had sported some shirts with the same mark. That reminder must have shook Lewis up enough that he lost his reason. "Come back to the attic with me.”

“You gonna be okay, Zu?” Arthur asked, as Inko steadied her son. 

"Yeah, it’s just a bit of a shock.“ 

"Let me see your shoulder,” Arthur insisted. “I’m pretty good at treating burn wounds.” Not that he’d ever admit how he got that way.

“It’s nothing, Kaachan’s got enough control it usually doesn’t penetrate the clothes anymore. If anything, It’s more likely bruised from fighting off the slime guy.”

Arthur pursed his lips, unhappy that it sounded like he’d gained that control through trial and error on Izuku. He saw the burgeoning anger in Inko’s eyes. She was reigning it in better, but she was just as pissed as the rest of them. 

Izuku chuckled nervously, obviously still shaken. “Good thing I didn’t mention he told me the best way to become a hero was to throw myself off the school and pray for better luck in the next life. Grandfather Lewis would have really freaked out." 

Arthur shot his eyes up to Inko, and saw a rage as bright as Lewis that then froze. A shiver went down his non-existent spine. He’d seen that freeze before, in Vivi. It never boded well. 

"Grandmother is right, we should all get some rest.” Her voice held a cheeriness her eyes betrayed as a lie. Thankfully Izuku wasn’t looking anyone in the eye, so he believed her fake calm as she led him back to his room.

Arthur stayed with her as she walked Izuku back to his room, and left with her as well, promising Izuku he’d be back in a moment. “Do I need to remind you not to kill the fourteen year old too." 

"Oh, I’m not going to physically harm him.” Inko had never looked so much like Vivi. “I’m just going to make sure where things stand are perfectly clear." 

~

"Been a while, Inko, what brings you here?” Mitsuki asked, brightly. 

“I just need to talk to you and Katsuki, if that’s alright." 

"Sure, _Hey brat, get down here._ " 

"What do you want?” Katsuki snarled, coming down the stairs. 

"Just something I wanted to make clear.“ Inko smiled and opened the bag she brought. She pulled out several shirts and jackets, burns most prominent on the wrists and shoulders. Pencil boxes, textbooks, notebooks, all shown signs of destruction at the literal hands of Katsuki’s quirk. "Keep your son away from mine. I’ve brought this up with the school, but as I can’t trust those biased bastards to be responsible for a rabbit, I’ve come here to warn you. Should my Izuku come home with one more hand shaped burn on his person or property, I will personally destroy you.” Her pleasant tone never wavered.

Katsuki snorted as Mitsuki paled. “You and what army?" 

"Lawyers.” Inko answered brightly. “A police record would ruin your chances of getting into _any_ good school, much less UA. And I have more than enough evidence to have you charged with assault and illegal quirk use. The only reason you’re getting another chance is the people who should have taught you better have utterly failed to do so. But this is your only chance. Throw it away at your own leisure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason for his 'last chance' isn't Inko being merciful. She's afraid what he might try to do to Izuku if he had nothing less to lose.


	5. Calling the Old Guard Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place at the start of the Sports Festival.

The ground of UA were packed, with the sports festival starting in under half and hour.

Death Arms, Kamui Woods, and Mt. Lady were acting as extra security, given the attack on school grounds earlier in the year. Still, even with the fear over the villain attack, the crowds were thick making it almost impossible to get through without bumping into people.

“Excuse Me” “Pardon” “Just passing by” “Sorry- oh it’s _you.”_

Death Arms knew that tone, knew nothing good ever followed it. But everyone had their detractors, even All Might, and it did no good engaging in them. Kamui Woods, for all he was a newbie, seemed to understand that as well. Mt. Lady, on the other hand, was young and full of pride and whirled around to face whoever had made that last comment. “Do you know who we are?”

“I do,” said the lady in blue, cerulean eyes ablaze in dark sclera. “You’re three of the heroes who needed a fifteen year old boy to do your job, then proceeded to rake him over the coals for doing it better than you.”

Death Arms stiffled a groan. The Slime Villain. They had all taken some heat for that one, save All Might. Though previously the criticism had been about the standing around and doing nothing, not chiding the idiot kid who’d run in half cocked.

“Lady, we were doing our jobs-”

“No you weren’t. Izuku was.” The woman’s head seemed to fade away, leaving a skull with burning blue hair.

“Your face dear,” a large dark-skinned man wearing sunglasses chided her. “You’re going to scare some of the children here. But she has a point. All three of you, as well as the rest of the heroes there, weren’t even trying to save the kid.”

“Our quirks weren’t suitable.” Mt. Lady argued. “We did the responsible thing in waiting for someone’s who was.”

“Wrong. Could have been dead wrong for Bakugo.” A blond man with dark glowing eyes similar to the woman’s (a relative?) stood beside her. “Brain death can occur within three to six minutes without oxygen and that slime mold was clearly covering his nose and mouth. Not knowing All Might was in town, how realistic would it have been for help to arrive in time?”

None of the three heroes answered, but the looks on their faces revealed they knew the answer. Not very.

Blondy turned to Mt. Lady. “You could have shrunken down to get into the roadway.” Then to Death Arms. “Your strength was useless against most of his body, but you still could have targeted the eyes and mouth. Izuku figured that out mid-run and bought Bakugo a few more precious seconds of oxygen.” And finally to Kamui Wood. “Wood doesn’t work well against fire, true. But most of the fire was focused on the buildings, you could have easily gone up the middle, used your branches to pierce the slime villain and got the kid out. There were things you could have done. Maybe they wouldn’t have worked, but we can’t forgive that you didn’t even try.”

By now the three heroes were silent, feeling smaller than the first years.

A round woman, who had the same hair and eyes and the kid who’d run in, looked at them with disdain. “Well, when they said there was no reason to rush in, they obviously were referring to themselves too. Still, perhaps they should have spent more time after contemplating how to improve their tactics rather than criticizing my son for trying to actually save someone, or gushing over the person who set the shopping district on fire.”

“Ready to find our seats, Inko-chan?” The blond man extended an arm and Inko took it. The four walked off, leaving three professional heroes rethinking a lot of things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This hit them a little harder because most of the criticism they got were 'Why are heroes just standing around?' which they could justify as doing things by the book.
> 
> 'Here's how you almost let a kid die and here's what you actually could have done if you'd stopped to think' hits a bit harder.


	6. In which Izuku is far more jaded than his classmates thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place slightly before the USJ

**  
**“Midoriya, what is this about?” Yaoyorozu asked with some misease. **  
**

Yesterday he’d texted Uraraka and asked her to gather all the girls at one spot without anyone else knowing. Ashido had eagerly volunteered her house, but the rest of the girls felt a little uneasy at being called out in such a way. Despite Uraraka’s assurance that Midoriya wouldn’t be up to anything skeezy.

Izuku pulled up a small backpack, and retrieved a sealed tube and some notes. “These are for you Yaoyorozu. I included all the notes and the chemical makeup so you could reproduce it easily.”

“Okay, but we still don’t know what it is.” Jiro pointed out.

“Right, right. Sorry, I never got the Bruce Wayne part down.” Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Maybe I should demonstrate it first.” He took the tube back and pulled something else from the backpack. It was one of Mineta’s pop-offs in a plastic baggie. “Thankfully he leaves these everywhere, so it was easy to grab some for testing.” He poured a little of the liquid into the bag and the purple orb seemed to destick from the sides of the bag. A little more and it melted away.

“A counter for Mineta’s quirk.” Hagkure proclaimed, excitedly.

“Exactly. He’s made a few comments about wanting to ‘stick’ himself to one of you, so I wanted to make sure you also had a counter. And he seems to target you more than anyone else, Yaoyorozu so I wanted you to be ready.”

She turned a little green, but began to go over the notes of the chemical formula.

“I also got these.” He pulled out another baggie, this one filled with quartz crystals with little loops on the end. “They’re low quality crystal, but easy enough to enchant, and sold in bulk. I hit Mineta with a tracking charm and tied the crystals into it. These should alert you if he’s close by via a small vibration that gets stronger the closer he is. Place the crystal flat on your hand and it will point the directions. Sorry it’s not much, but it was all I could think of so far. Well, I also considered a curse that would disrupt his eyesight when he thought about peeping on girls, but permanently blinding a student is the kind of thing that would get me expelled.”

“Wow, you do not like Mineta.” Tsu observed with a little surprise.

“I don’t he’s…he’s an insult to everything it means to be a hero.” Uncharacteristic heat entered Izuku’s voice. “The core purpose of being a hero, any kind of hero, is helping people. Whether it’s by defending them from villains or saving them from disasters. Mineta doesn’t _care_ about helping people. You heard him at the USJ, Tsu-chan. He wants to be a Hero because he thinks girls will let him touch them. I’m not naive enough to think every would-be hero has a pure motive, but the fact that he doesn’t seem to care if his attentions are wanted or even consensual is…” He clenched his fists. “But I don’t get a say in whether he makes a professional or not. All I can do is try and help you guys.”

“And I appreciate you trying to look out of my little girl, and the others.” A woman with soft curled horns came in with a plate of warm pretzels. 

“Oh yeah! You guys have got to try these.” Ashido gushed. “Mom makes the absolute most amazing pretzels!”

“That’s because the secret is getting the perfect alkaline balance for the crust.” he Mom winked.  
  


“Oh, your quirk works with the PH scale?” Izuku asked, fascinated.  
  


“You’re right. I can adjust things to be as acidic or basic as I want. But the question _I_ want to know is why you’re going through all this trouble instead of telling the teacher.”

“Because Mineta is very intelligent, judging by his scores on the entrance exam, as well as able to use his quirk in an incredibly skilled way.” Izuku explained matter-of-factually.

“I don’t see what one has to do with the other,” Uraraka commented, devouring a warm and perfectly salted pretzel.”

“Because people with those two things are perceived as being primed for a successful future. And schools want to have a good reputation and turning out promising Heroes does that, which means protecting people who seem to have a successful future from consequences which might hurt their future, thus bringing less prestige to the school.”

Jiro let out a low whistle. “I always took you for the wide eyed optimist type but _wow_. Jaded much?”

“Don’t you think your teachers would put a stop to unwholesome behavior irregardless?” Ashida-san pressed gently.

“That has not been my life experience. Although now that you mention it I _may_ have been looking at this all wrong. I was thinking of this like Aldera, where it was a case of one promising student versus one with little hope of prospects. But that’s nowhere near the case here, where it’s one promising student versus six, one of whom was good enough to get in on recommendation.” Izuku brightened up. “The school might listen!”

“It better. I think a few other parents and myself will be paying your homeroom teacher a visit soon.”

~

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Rest assured I’ll be keeping a much closer eye and if Mineta can’t shape up, he’ll no longer have a place at this school.” Aizawa assured the parents of all his female students.

He’d known Mineta was girl crazy, but not to the extent of harassing his classmates. 

As the parents filtered out, one stayed behind. “Was there something else, Ashido-san?”

“There is. I thought I should warn you about another of your students. Izuku Midoriya?”

  
Aizawa narrowed his eyes. “If Midoriya was involved in-”  
  


“Only in trying to stop it.” Mina’s mother assured. “I asked him why he was going through the lengths he was instead of discussing it with you or another faculty member. His answer was telling.” She closed her eyes. “What I want to warn you about is to look out for him, because he won’t come to you, to anyone in this school, for help if something’s wrong.”

“When I spoke about the faculty taking his concerns seriously in spite of Mineta’s promise his words were ‘That hasn’t been my life experience’. What I heard though, was “Nobody saved me. Nobody even tried’. He mentioned going to Aldera and all it took was one casual mention of him to a current student who wasn’t a first year. Aizawa-san, that boy’s been systematically bullied with the _express support_ of the faculty.”

“That’s a serious accusation.” There was wariness, but not disbelief in Aizawa’s tone.

“It’s a serious problem,” She looked him in the eye. “He will trust you to teach him but no more. I don’t know if earning his trust is possible, but I doubt it will take much for him to become actively distrustful.”

“Thank you for your advice.” Aizawa closed his eyes. This explained a lot, honestly more about Bakugo than Midoriya. Still he’d have to confirm what he’d been told.

But if it was true in the slightest, he’d have no trouble going in a destroying the reputation of the middle school that was willing to sacrifice any of it’s student’s in such a way.


	7. Symbol of Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place directly after USJ

All Might looked at the boy in the hospital bed next to him. “I owe you an apology, young Midoriya.”

Izuku looked up in surprise. “Not really. You couldn’t have known today was ‘Gang of super villains attack the school’ day. No one could have seen that coming. Unless they had some kind of precognition quirk, like Sir Nighteye. Of course if the visions were random they still might not have gotten it. And if it was directed would they have to have looked at one of the students or the USJ building itself-”

All Might smiled as Izuku went on one of his tangents on a theoretical clairvoyance quirk. He’d only known the boy a short time, but it was so classically him. “Not today, the day we met at Musutafu.”

  
  
Izuku broke out of his mumbling, startled. “Oh that. Don’t be. No one else thought a quirkless kid could become a hero either. I mean, it wasn’t the greatest moment in my life, sure. But It helped me focus on what I needed to do to fix that rather than just fantasizing about it.”

“At the very least I could have been kinder about it. But the truth of the matter is, I lied that day. I knew a way you could have become a hero. I almost told you. But I was afraid.”

“Afraid of what?” he heard no judgement in Midoriya’s voice, at least not yet. 

All Might looked at his skeletal hands. “You’ve probably heard me described as the most powerful hero ever to have existed. But for all my strength, the bald truth of the matter is my remaining lifespan could probably be counted better in months than years.”

Izuku swallowed the denial on his tongue. He saw the horrific wound on All Mights chest, knew how his respiratory and digestive system was affected. But he didn’t want to hear that the Symbol of Peace was dying.

“I knew if I brought you into the fold you could become an amazing hero. Or you could die. And in the end, I was too much of a coward to take the burden of knowing it was I that lead to your death.”

Izuku was quiet for a few moments, then chuckled humorlessly. “I should tell my family. They might be a bit more forgiving of that motive. They, um, weren’t really happy with the whole telling me I couldn’t be a hero without a quirk. But that’s all I told them! I didn’t mention your condition. Thought Gramma Vivi and Grandpa Lewis might have seen something today…”

“The two ghost looking people? I kinda got the impression they didn’t like me.”

“They’re not ghost-looking, they’re ghosts, but yeah. They and Grampa Arthur are from the time before quirks, so they didn’t take the idea that quirks should limit what you can do well. Um, if I may ask, how were you going to theoretically make me a hero?”

All Might weighed things in his mind, trying to push out the ‘they’re ghosts’ thing. That was something he wasn’t sure he was ready to think about. No, he missed his chance once, he wouldn’t do so again. “My quirk is unique. Most quirks are either inherited from a parent, such as young Iida’s Engine the combination of two parents quirks into one, like young Bakugo’s Explosion, or in rare cases have one unrelated to both parents, a variance of an ancestor's lost quirk. But my quirk is different. Rather than be passed down genetically, it’s passed down from mentor to student, gaining power as it’s passed. It’s true part of the reason I agreed to be a teacher was to hide that I couldn’t stay in my hero form as long as I could before, but it was also to find a replacement. I was looking for someone with a quick mind, pure heart, and powerful quirk. And I shouldn’t have let the lack of the third dissuade me when I found someone who had the first two in spades. Someone with enough raw skill and guts to get into the UA Hero Course without a quirk.”

Izuku stilled. “All Might, are you offering me what I think you are?”

“Izuku Midoriya, will you become the ninth holder of the quirk One For All?”

Izuku felt his breath leave him as he his wildest wishes, his deepest most impossible dream, was offered up to him.”If…if only you’d offered it on that day. It would have been everything I ever wanted. But I guess Mom would never have contacted my grandparents, so I can’t be too upset you didn’t.”

“Young Midoriya, it sounds like you’re saying no?” All Might questioned.

  
“I am. I have to. There’s no way I, in good conscience, could accept your quirk.” The words were some of the most painful he’d ever have to say, but he knew he had to say them.

“You’re free, of course, to refuse, though I don’t know what conscience has to do with it?” Inside All Might was stunned. He couldn’t imagine anyone, especially someone as fascinated by heroes and quirks as Midoriya refusing what might be the most powerful quirk in the world.

“Eighty percent of the world is capable of superhuman feats. Even though next to none of them use their quirks, the mere having them makes the world a wonderful place. But for the other twenty percent things are very different. We’re the unspoken second class citizen. I did some research, you know, after. I knew some of it, like how quirkless people are more likely to not be taken seriously by doctors and stuff. But quirkless people are also less likely to be hired for jobs or promoted, even when jobs have nothing to do with quirk. It’s never said out loud, but quirkless people are the lesser, the incomplete. The Unworthy. Should have figured it out when the career counselor told me I was a waste of time to talk to.”

Each word felt like a gut punch. It had been rough when he was Toshinori Yagi, quirkless kid, but it sounded like things had only gone downhill since then. How had he missed it? Had Nana giving him her quirk made him just as blind as everyone else.

“But I’m changing all that!” Bright determination lit in Izuku’s eyes. “I managed to get into UA quirkless. Sure I had magic, but that’s not the point. I broke the mold and I’m changing the mindset. One quirkless kid did it, who’s to say another can’t?”

“You’re the Symbol of Peace, All Might, and there’s no one better for that job. But I’m the Symbol of Hope to all the quirkless people who’ve dared to dream. If I ‘mysteriously’ develop a quirk, it will justify to all the people who believe quirkless people are lesser that I’m one of them after all. I can’t do that. I won’t do that. I’m sorry…”  
  


“Don’t be.” All Might lay back on his bed. “I’m the one who missed my chance. If I’d been up front as Musutafu, well, that’s on me. I gotta say though, it’s going to be hard finding another successor who can match up to your potential.”

“Well, whoever you find, I’d be happy to work with them.”  
  


“I may take you up on that.” It was a heavy thing to offer, the acknowledgment between them that All Might might not be around to fully train his successor.

“My family will help too.” Izuku promised. “And they got an average quirkless kid into UA in ten months.”

“There is nothing average about you, my boy. But all the same, I think I’d like to meet them.”


	8. The saddest thing to bond over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place sometime after USJ

“I get it.”

All Might turned and saw one of Midoriya’s grandparents (the thought that these people were ghosts still sent a small shiver up his spine) sitting down next to him. “Pardon?”

“I get it.” Arthur repeated. “In a way Vivi and Lewis really can’t. When Lewis died everything happened fast. One minute everything was fine the next moment he was impaled on a stalagmite.” Arthur’s form flickered for a moment, and All Might caught a glimpse of a version of Arthur he had never seen. A pale gaunt, almost skeletal, man. It was disturbingly like looking in a mirror these days.

“Vivi lived the longest, the only one of us who reached Senior Citizen age. Then she caught a cold that went to her chest. She kept insisting she was fine and was the most surprised when one morning she got up and left her body behind.”

“She doesn’t look much older than the rest of you?”

“Don’t ask me how ghosts work.” Arthur shrugged. “Maybe that’s the age she sees herself as, maybe she just didn’t want to look that different from us, maybe it was a longing to go back before everything started going wrong, who can say? But the point is, their deaths were completely unexpected.”

“My twenties were simultaneously the best and worst times of my life. I got married, my daughter was born, Lewis died, my arm was ripped off, I was in a car crash and thrown off a cliff. I took a lot of physical damage and even more psychological damage, but I came through it alive. It was shortly after our Ami was born, when I was twenty eight, when I realized something was wrong. At first the doctors thought it was psychosomatic, but it turned out there was some unaccounted for organ damage at some point that had only gotten worse and well…I managed to hold on till I was thirty six. So I get it. I know what it’s like to die slow. To have years to try and get all your ducks in a row, but always feel like there’s still more to be done. To try and keep your loved ones upbeat, to pretend the end isn’t coming but feeling your body becoming less and less capable. To know what’s coming, and try to deny it. It’s a hell unlike any else. I didn’t know I was going to come back. All I could think of was never seeing Lewis or Vivi again, of Ami dealing with losing a parent so young. Some stupid part of my brain tried to tell me it would be better that way. Lewis and Vivi had been together first and the two of them raising their child was how thing should be, but I knew it was a lie.”

Arthur probably hadn’t meant to say that much, but in all honestly it sort of slid over All Might in the wake of having someone who didn’t just sympathize, but _understood_ all the things, all the feelings, he had been trying to hide from the world.

“Do you think I could come back too?” All Might asked.

“I was pretty sure I wasn’t, so what do I know.” Arthur shrugged. “There seems to be less supernatural stuff around. Mystery explained some of it but,” He shrugged. “Honestly I can’t say. Why would you want to stick around?”

All Might opened his mouth to say he wanted to continue to protect the world, but realized there was another reason. “Midoriya.”  
  


“My grandson?” Arthur quirked an eyebrow.   
  


“He’s…he’s so much like me thirty five years ago. So full of ideals and the desire to help people. So much raw potential that just needed someone to take a chance on him. It will be my biggest regret I passed on my opportunity to be that person. But I want to see him grow to his potential. To be the hero I know he’s going to be.”


	9. The thought occured to me and I had to write this

  
“This doesn’t make sense.” Arthur looked at his grandson’s notebooks, confused. 

"What doesn’t?“ Vivi asked, looking up from her spell tome. 

"I’ve been going through the section on All Might and just…his attack names. They make no sense.” 

“ _That’s_ what your hung up on?” Lewis asked in disbelief. 

"Okay, but look. ‘Texas Smash’. Makes sense. Texas has a reputation for being big, loud, and tough.”

“And I’m sure the fact that it’s your home state has nothing to do with it.” Vivi joked.

“'California Smash’. Fine, California’s a big-ass state with a lot of history.” Arthur continued as if she hadn’t said anything. “But 'New Hampshire Smash’? That’s one of the smallest states in the country. Missouri? Nebraska? Okalahoma? Why those? Hell, Detroit isn’t even a state, it’s a city. I dunno, maybe he’s going with Motor City - Being hit by a truck?“ Arthur mused. "But I can’t find the pattern, it’s like he’s choosing places at random." 

An idea struck Vivi and she repressed a giggle. "Arthur, Izuku said All Might likes to pepper random English into his sentences, right? Like, even his hero name is in English despite him operating in Japan.” 

“Yeah, why?”

Vivi couldn’t contain her laughter anymore, the sound somehow both eerie and echoing yet joyful, leaving her two husbands confused. 

"Something you’d like to share, love?“ Lewis prodded.

"Don’t you see?” Vivi was still laughing. “He uses random English words, names all his attacks after places he’s heard of but doesn’t know enough about to have them make sense? Guys, _the number one hero in the world is a reverse weeaboo._ ”


	10. The Price of Vengeance part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during the internships at the beginning of the Stain Arc

His first day at his internship had gone as well as could be expected. There had been no major mishaps and he’d done the duties assigned to him. A week ago that would have filled him with pride, the next step to him fulfilling the Iida family legacy as exceptional heroes.

But Tenya Iida didn’t feel pride. He didn’t know if he’d ever feel anything but the scorching hatred flowing through him. Stain was out there, somewhere in Hosu. The man who’d killed so many heroes and permanently crippled his brother, Tensei. He had one week in this internship to try and find him and make him pay.

So caught up in his thoughts of vengeance, Iida never noticed the path to the train changing. Brick buildings became papered over with pinstripe wallpaper, the concrete sidewalk became a worn wooden floor, the setting sun candle-lit chandeliers.

He didn’t notice the changes until he walked straight into a wall that should have been an open street.  
  


“What is this?!” He demanded, spinning around and trying to get his bearings. Somehow downtown Hosu had become an old house, worn but non the less grandiose. 

The first thing to do was get out of here. He sped down the hall the engines on his legs shifting gears. But there was no door, no windows. Nothing he could kick to escape. 

_Was this how the Hero Killer did it? How he trapped skilled heroes like Tensei?_

Panic began to rise, but anger and hatred burned brighter. “Where are you Stain? Show yourself!” Iida roared. 

“The one you seek is not found in this house.” The disembodied voice that answered him had a rich baritone with an American accent. 

“Then let me out! If he’s not here then this is a waste of my time.”

The voice didn’t answer. Iida looked around and saw a flash of something pink out of the corner of his eye. As he debated going after it another pink thing floated by him. The second wisp beckoned him to follow.

Not having a better plan, he followed them through the maze of a house to a large ornate door. The wisps stopped there, but beckoned him to enter.

The room on the other side was made of dark stone, lit only by braziers that burned purple fire. From the door a red carpet led through the middle of the braziers to a raised dias which had a large black and purple coffin propped upright. In front of the coffin a man was waiting for him. He wore a black suit decorated with bones and his head was a floating skull lit with the same purple flames. Similarly his irises glowed amidst the void that was his eyes. 

There was something familiar, something that scratched at his brain, but he pushed it down. “Who are you, what do you want from me?”

“Hello Tenya Iida,” the skull man greeted him with the same voice that had spoken before. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Iida kept his guard up.

“Your quest for revenge against the one known as Stain. There is much we need to talk about that would benefit you.”

“And how do I know this isn’t some trick of Stain’s” Iida asked.

“I don’t do the dirty work for _ **M̿̾̃Ǔ̅̓R̐̏̚D̋̏͞E̾̍͞R̽̔͑Ẽ̿̉R̒̔S͌͋̊.**_ ”

At the last word the voice changed, as though infected with some dark madness, and it suddenly clicked why he’d seemed vaguely familiar. He’d met someone before with a skull head and eyes that were glowing rings in voids. Midoriya’s Grandparents. His _dead_ Grandparents.

With a start he realized he hadn’t been kidnapped by a villain. _He’d been kidnapped by a ghost_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was inspired by me watching the series and Iida saying along the lines of 'But no one's tell me what to do with all this burning hatred flowing through my veins' (re: Stain) and me going 'That is a question for Lewis'


	11. Final Exam Prep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place between the Sports Festival and Final Exam

Well, the debacle that was the Sports Festival was over with. Aizawa entered the Staff Room; he still looked more like a mummy than a teacher, but at least the bandages were coming off soon. “So did the principle say anything about the plans for the Final Practical?”

“Well, with everything that’s happened he thought fighting the robots wasn’t the best idea. After all, they’ve faced them in the entrance exam and the Sports Festival. Not much point. Instead we’re grouping them in teams of two against one of us. Their goal is subdue or escape. We’ll be handicapped, but the tests are designed to put them at a disadvantage, albeit not an unbeatable one.” Vlad explained.

“All Might and I put together a few proposals for student groups for 1A while you were at the hospital for your checkup. I’m sure you’ll see the _allure_ of our choices.” Midnight winked at him.

Aizawa ignored her usual sultry manner and grabbed them with the hand that wasn’t in a cast. “Logical, logical, logical” He cycled through them. and rolled his eyes at the looks of glee All Might and Midnight had at what they knew was high praise from him. Honestly, you’d think they were still children themselves. “Logical. Logical. Absolutely not.”

He slid forth the paper that said “Bakugo and Midoriya vs All Might”

“All Might is a good opponent for either of them. Bakugo needs to learn what it’s like to face overwhelming force, and Midoriya still had a bit of hero worship, though he’s trying to get over it. However, putting those two together is out of the question.”

“That’s the point though.” All Might pointed out. “They need to get over their differences.”

“Bakugo won’t. Despite the fact that Midoriya is a literal wizard who is capable in close combat and can summon three ancestors spirits with a frightening array of skill and powers, Bakugo sees him as being dead weight dragging the school down. His pride is such that he’d rather fail than work with a quirkless person, _especially_ Midorya.”

“Then he’ll fail. And hopefully learn a lesson from it.” Vlad waved the concern away.

“You’re right. But why do you think it’s acceptable to purposefully fail Midoriya for the sake of teaching his classmate a lesson?”

The three other teachers started. “We’re not purposefully failing him.” Midnight tried to explain.

“In order to complete these scenarios you need a plan and teamwork. It doesn’t matter how much Midoriya is willing to set aside his differences, Bakugo won’t. Therefore this is a no win scenario for him. Every other school they’ve been in has sacrificed Midoriya for the sake of Bakugo’s future. That trend ends here.” Aizawa closed his eyes in thought. “Vlad, would you mind lending me two of your students?”

“Any ones in particular?”

“Neito Monoma with Bakugo. While most of your class has overcome the rivalry with mine, Monoma’s become obsessive over it. Bakugo has dismissed him as an ‘extra’ multiple times. There’s enmity between them, but not to the sheer shut down level of Bakugo and Midoriya.”

“For Midoriya, I’m thinking Pony Tsunitori. Her Japanese is passable, but you’ve complained she doesn’t seem to be putting much effort into improving it. And that Monoma himself and other have been taking advantage of the fact by making her say cruel things when she thinks she’s being friendly. Midoriya is clever, but he has a tendency to over complicate things and can speak almost like a stream of thought. In order to overcome their final, they’ll need to meet each other halfway in communicating. Midoriya will have to simplify and be clear and concise while Tsunitori will have to focus on being able to communicate effectively.”

“If that’s the case, I think it best I’m up against Tsunitori and Midoriya.” All Might admitted. “Monoma’s power is to copy the quirks of others and mine can be volatile until you get the hang of it. And while learning not all quirks are safe to copy is a good lesson for him to learn, I doubt he or Recovery Girl would be happy if he learned it by shattering half his bones trying to throw a punch.”

They all shared a shudder at the thought of angering the school nurse. “Let’s go with that.” Aizawa agreed “What about Bakugo and Monoma?”  
  


“Nedzu. Those boys could stand to learn some subtlety. He’s already down for Kirishima and Ashido from your class, so do that one during 1B’s slot.” Midnight suggested.

“Monoma is capable of that to a degree, his plan for the Sports Festival might have worked if he hadn’t stopped to monologue.” Vlad pointed out. “I’d say Aizawa. Bakugo’s pretty reliant on his quirk, and Monoma on other people’s. Having to adapt to dealing without a quirk whatsoever would be an experience for both of them.”

And maybe teach Bakugo a little empathy for those without quirks, though privately Aizawa doubted it. That would take much longer than one afternoon. “Sound like a plan. We have through the end of their internships to figure out strategies and environments.”


	12. Line in the Sand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during the training for the entrance Exam

“Two of our class were accepted into UA’s hero course. Well done Bakugou and Midoriya.”

Bakugou stood up so fast his seat clattered to the ground. “What the hell Deku? I thought I told you to apply somewhere else!" 

Izuku steeled himself. "You don’t get to make decisions for me, Bugsy." 

The classroom became silent. No one questioned Bakugou and certainly not ‘Quirkless Midoriya’.

“The. Hell. You. Call. Me?” Bakugou asked in a slow and dangerous voice. Small explosions crackled in his palms, but he made no move to touch Izuku. Good, the threat of legal action was holding.

"Bugsy. Old term for someone with a short temper.” Izuku said in a lot cooler voice than he actually felt. There was still the instinctive panic reaction to Bakugou threatening him. But talking with Grandmother Vivi and Grandfather Arthur had helped him realize his old was friend wasn’t who he’d thought he was (Grandfather Lewis has been a bit volatile on the subject, but had given Izuku no shortage of love and affection, reaffirming no one had the right to treat him like Bakugou had). 

"Don’t call me that.“ Bakugou growled.

"Remember my name and we’ll see what happens.” If he wanted to be able to look villains in the eye unflinching he had least had to be able to do the same with Bakugou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As can probably be guessed by this, Izuku won't be using Deku as his hero name


	13. The Ninth Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much like the reverse weeaboo thing, not sure where in the story it will go.

“You want _me_ to help you pick a successor?” Izuku looked like he was going to start crying again. “It’s an honor, but I barely know any of the students outside 1A. I don’t have all the information to make a good choice and-”

All Might raised his hand to cut Izuku off. “I’m just asking for an opinion, Young Midoriya. As I have other in the know. I know you don’t have wide knowledge of the character of the rest of the student body. But as someone who would have been an ideal successor, I value your opinion.”

“Okay. Okay.” Izuku took an effort to calm himself down. He couldn’t help it. That All Might wanted his opinion on something so big was humbling. He took a moment to organize his thoughts. “Alright, first thing, if you go with any of my suggestions, you have to tell Aizawa-sensei.”

All Might frowned. “I thought you understood the need for secrecy.”

“I _do_. But there are long term ramifications. Your quirk is an amplifier, it amplifies strength and also the persons original quirk, if they have one. That mean whoever you give you quirk to is going to get a huge boost in power, so their control is going to go right on the window. That can be corrected with time, but it’s time they may not have.”

“Aizawa-sensei takes his job very seriously. If he doesn’t know about the sudden power spike, something not likely to happen this late in someone’s development, he’ll assume they’re messing around with their quirk or being actively careless, since he _knows_ how good everyone’s control is already. He won’t tolerate that and expel them.”

“There’s no shame in failing the UA entrance exam as far as other schools are concerned. Everyone knows how hard it is. But passing the exam, then being expelled is a different matter. It shows you have knowledge and power, but not responsibility, which means very few schools are willing to take an expellee. It would be one thing if you were planning to wait till after graduation, but I don’t think that’s what you want to do.”

It was a tactful way of saying All Might may not have that long. And All Might was once again grateful he’d decided to talk to Izuku about this because he probably wouldn’t have thought of any of it. As for people he had to tell, well, Aizawa was far from the worst. “Taking that into account, who would you be suggesting?”

“In reverse order, the first would be Kirishima.”

That caused All Might to raise an eyebrow. He had half expected the boy to name one of his own friends. But never the closest friend of Bakugou, who Midoriya seemed to actively dislike.

“He’s got a strong quirk and his hardening ability could easily mask the increase in strength. He’s got a good heart and is supportive of others, seeing the best in people. The only drawbacks would be some minor confidence issues, which I think would be easy to get past, and the creativity to truly utilize your quirk. I doubt he would think of something like using air pressure to create rain to put out a fire.”

“The next would be Tsu-chan. She’s incredibly level headed and practical, and adept at thinking of new ways to use her quirk. She also can take seemingly insane thing in stride, like when I used necromancy at the USJ.”

A torrent of blood expelled itself from All Might’s lungs as he coughed, effectively masking his shock.

“Honestly she’d be perfect if you were just looking for a good person to have your quirk. But you don’t just want to pass down your quirk, but your title as Symbol of Peace. That means fighting villains, to show they have no chance. And Tsu-chan wants to be a rescue hero. While she’ll still fight villains, she’ll be fighting nature more often. A Symbol of Safety would suit her, but-”

It was true. But if he came down to making a decision, he’d take someone he absolutely trusted to be uncorrupted by power over preserving his title. “And your last one?”

Izuku grinned nervously. This was the one he thought the best choice, but knew it might be a harder sell. “Okay, now keep a open mind about this-”


	14. The Ninth Part 2

Something was very wrong.

As much as he wanted to pretend otherwise, he couldn’t. Aizawa wasn’t in the business of self delusion. Whenever All Might wanted to speak to him, he would often walk right up to him and talk, at most asking him to go to the teachers room.

A formal request for a meeting, with a plea for maximum privacy, indicated something serious.

The feeling intensified when he showed up in a suit tailored for his smaller form. All Might favored clothes he could grow into, should the need arise. Not doing that was a show of vulnerability, something All Might tried never to do.

“Aizawa, what I’m here to discuss is a matter of serious confidentiality. Parts of it are a government level secret. Can I trust your discretion on this?”

Aizawa nodded, not changing his expression.

All Might sighed. “There are three levels of secrecy about me. The faculty has been apprised of the first level, only Nedzu and Chiyo know the others.” And Midoriya, but saying that would probably just anger Aizawa.

“And you’re telling me because?” Aizawa crossed his arms and fixed him with a look he used for misbehaving students.

“That should become apparent, once I explain.” All Might took a breath and it was obvious he was uncomfortable discussing this. “The second secret is one that probably isn’t too hard to guess from my current condition. I’m dying.”

It felt like he had been punched in the gut. He wasn’t a fan of All Might, he found the man downright frustrating. But the Symbol of Peace had been a part of the public consciousness for decades and somehow the idea of him dying seemed impossible. And Aizawa was more than a little peeved to realize he’d fallen into some of the hype.

It did explain the somber attitude though. “And the third?” he asked, trying to distract from the second.

“My quirk is...unique. It’s not passed down from parent to offspring, but rather can be given to a successor the current holder deems worthy.”

Aizawa wanted to argue the impossibility of that statement, but he’d had to expand his idea of what was possible. And suddenly something else made a lot of sense. “That’s why you came to UA? To find a successor?” It all made sense, if All Might was dying, he couldn’t wait. That didn’t mean Aizawa approved though.

“Got it in one. I found the perfect successor in Izuku Midoriya-”

“He’d never agreed.” Aizawa said heatedly. Midoriya took pride in being the first quirkless person to be accepted to UA.

All Might laughed. “Got it in one. He turned me down. I did ask him, though, if he had any idea who my successor should be, as I did anyone who knew the truth. He gave me some ideas. The last one was one I hadn’t considered, but his argument was sound.”

“And it’s someone from my class.” Aizawa held his gaze steady.

“In a manner of speaking.” All Might admitted. “The Ninth holder of One For All needs to be someone humble enough to keep the secret, who’s a Hero in order to do good and not personal glory, who’s responsible and level headed, and has good judgement to know who best to pass it on to later. And as Young Midoriya pointed out, who fits that better than you.”

Aizawa felt his brain stop. “Me?”

All Might nodded. “I wouldn’t have considered it, One For All had always been passed from mentor to student. But I don’t have the time to teach a student properly. You already fit all the major criteria. I won’t ask you to become the next Symbol of Peace, I know that would be antithetical to you. But rather, to keep the quirk alive until you find someone worthy of being the next to carry the title.” All Might slid from the chair to him knees, bowing deeply. “I know it’s a terrible thing to ask. A large burden I place upon you. But I’m out of time. And even my short time as a teacher in UA has taught me how little I know of mentoring. Please.”

“Stand up.” Aizawa instructed. “First you are going to tell me everything about this, nothing left out. Then...we’ll see.”


	15. Enter the Tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: This does not contain Spoilers for MSA: The Future, but it was inspired by it.

~~

“Ibara-san!”

Ibara Shiozaki was not fond of many of her yearmates. She found them sinful, fixated on matters of glory, violence, and lust. But there was one she despised above all others.

Midoriya Izuku, who was unable to cope with being quirkless, how God made him, and had trafficked with demons for unnatural power. He should be cast into the hottest fires of hell, not allowed to walk amongst those who tried to be heroes. And now he was calling out to her-it made her flesh crawl. “What do you want?” She snapped.

He gave her a look, as though she were being unreasonable. “Just wanted you to pass on a message to your Grandmother, Mouri-san, not your paternal one. Tell her Vivi’s brat says hi.” He rolled his eyes and left.

Of course she wouldn’t - no, better to after all. Though her Grandmother clung to Shintoism rather than the true Faith, she should still be warned that such a depraved individual knew of her.

~

Izuku was glad for his lessons in situational awareness. He knew the instant the street was a little too empty. Supernaturally so.

Well, it could be a quirk, but he had a feeling otherwise. He was expecting this encounter since he’d left his message yesterday. Still he barely got the shield now forming around his arm up before a pair of oversized shears nearly got his back.

~

“Oi, Yukino, is this the best your spawn can do?” The door to the Midoriya home burst open and Izuku came flying through, landing on the couch. “He didn’t even take off any of my limbs!”

“Not everyone counts skill in dismemberment, you rotted old tree.” Vivi snapped back. “Zuku actually has this thing called a conscience and doesn’t try to kill people within minutes of knowing them.”

“You mean he’s soft. Softer than you, and you were a hell of a lot softer than Mushi. At this rate it’ll only take another generation or two for your line to be as threatening as a dandelion.”

“You want to try me?” Vivi eyes glowed brightly in her skull as she locked gazes with the intruder.

“Any time, any where,” The two glared at each other for a moment, before breaking into girlish giggles and hugging each other. “Damn I’ve missed you, Vivi.”

“You too Shiromori,” Vivi squeezed her stepsister tightly.

Mystery let out a sigh of relief. He knew they did this every time they were apart for a long period, but every time he was afraid it would be like the first time his children (born and adopted) had met.

“It’s nice to meet you, Auntie. But I would appreciate it if you didn’t throw my son around the house.” Inko said politely but firmly.

Shiromori inclined her head in a tacit apology. “So what’s the occasion? Last I remember you guys had yourselves sealed away only to be awoken in the family needed you, next I get a vague message that ‘Vivi’s brat says Hi’, so what gives?”

“Our family needed our help and we were called.” Arthur said simply. He knew the hatched had been buried, but the image of Shiromori on the windshield of his van stabbing her way inside was a lasting one.

“We got Zuku-chan into UA, and we’ll continue helping him,” Lewis supplied.

Shiromori blinked. “ _That_ was the big family emergency? Getting him into his top choice of school?”

“It wasn’t exactly the school,” Izuku started to nervously fidget. “I’m kind of quirkless and just about everyone I ever met thought my dream was worthless and that I was worthless and I was starting to believe it, so my grandparents have been teaching me magic and how to Batman and building up my confidence and-”

“You were bullied.” Shiromori stated bluntly. “You were abused.” Her words were heavy, but she wasn’t looking at Izuku. Instead she was focusing on Mystery. “Tou-san, where were you when this was happening?”

“I…” Words seemed to catch in Mystery’s throat. “I wasn’t around. You don’t understand how hard it is-”

“It’s _hard_. So you did what you always did. You _left_.” There was nothing fake about the anger in Shiromori’s voice now. “You left the children entrusted in your care, just like you always-”

“Shiro, calm down.” Vivi floated up slightly so she could lay a hand on her shoulder. “Mystery seriously screwed up with you, I won’t argue that. But this isn’t the same. For one thing, he left a way to contact him if help was needed and the moment Inko-chan asked he did come, and woke us up to boot. And he wasn’t around for the same reason we weren’t. We knew we’d watch all of our family die, even our children and grandchildren, that’s why we decided to be sealed.”

“Fumiyo will pass one day,” Mystery said despondently. “She is mortal and will go the way of them. So will Shiozaki And when that happens, it will _hurt_ like nothing you’ve ever experienced.”

Shiromori looked away, but Vivi perked up. “Fumiyo? Shiozaki?”

“My brat of a daughter and her kid.” Shiromori was still shaken, but smiled. “Shio-chan’s in your kid’s year, though not his class.”

Vivi squeed. “Tell me _everything_!”

~

“Mother,” Ibara greeted stiffly as Shiromori returned. 

Shiromori rolled her eyes. She had been such a cute kid when she was little. But at some point she’d decided inheriting Youkai powers rather than a ‘proper’ quirk was shameful. She’d blamed her mother for it, and the relationship between them had never really recovered.

For her late husband she’d happily created a mortal guise, thickened her bark into lines making her look older along with him. She’d even kept it up after he’d passed. Today had been the first time she’d dropped it for testing Vivi’s brat and it had been surprisingly hard to put back up.

Much like her daughter, she’d forgotten it was alright to be herself.

“Brat.” She answered fondly.

Fumiyo frowned and her husband and daughter looked up in surprise. “Mother, please.”

“Fumiyo, I have spent the past few decades doing the best I can to meet your standards of propriety. It took reconnecting with my step sister to remember what it felt like being myself and I’m not willing to let it go again. I am not kind. I am not polite. I would gladly kill my way through every hero and villain to protect you and Shio-chan.” She gave her son in law an appraising look. “You’ve cared for both of them, but haven’t stopped Fumiyo even when you knew she was wrong, so I’d kill heroes or villains for you but not both.”

As Shiromori went to her room she knew her daughter was cursing her name and grinned. She’d missed stirring the pot.


	16. The Price of Vengeance part 2

Iida took a step back as he recalculated things quickly. He had seen the least of Midoriya's ghostly grandparents in 1A, having been running to get help from the faculty when the villains invaded, but he'd heard stories of what they'd done. There was no question they were powerful as was this one, who'd kidnapped him without Iida even noticing. And without his hatred of Stain to guide him, Iida felt a sensation he hadn't felt since the sports festival creep up on him. 

Fear. 

"What is it you're proposing?" He asked, trying to to keep his voice strong. 

The purple specter composed himself. He looked Iida in the eye and the class president of 1A felt himself lock in place. "Revenge is something I know better than most. Especially how it blinds you to certain things. Those things are what we're going to be discussing. I am going to make you understand the price of your revenge, and if you still deem it worth the cost, I will help you." 

"Of course it's worth the cost!" Iida snapped, the burning hatred driving him once more now that Stain had come back up. 

"What cost?" The ghost asked. 

That left Iida unsteady. "You just said-" 

"That there was a cost. Tell me, how are you willing to pay it if you don't even know what it is?" 

"It doesn't matter! No cost is too great!" Iida yelled back.

"That is the single _stupidest_ , most shortsighted thing I've ever heard.” The ghost huffed. “Tell me, would you sacrifice your brother for your revenge?" 

Iida had bristled under being called stupid (not something he was used to hearing) only to be shocked by what the ghost suggested. "Of course not. I'm doing this for him!" 

"Liar." There was no accusation in the ghost's voice, merely a statement of fact. "Your brother would never want this, so it's not for him. It is to try to act out your own hatred. Say you succeed, what happens next?"

"What do you mean next? It's done!" Iida snapped.

"What happens to your family after you go to jail for vigilante murder?" The ghost pressed. "What will happen when your brother wakes in the hospital one day to find his precious little brother has thrown away his life, his future, dragged his family name through the mud. And all for his sake. Do you think he will be happy?" 

Why did the ghost have to put it that way? There was no way IIda could answer yes to that. 

"And then there's your parents. Your family has been in the Hero business since the beginning. This would see that generations long business crumble as the public would lose all faith in it. After all, how could someone be true heroes when they raised a murderer? And your friends will blame themselves as well, for not knowing how to stop you, for not trying hard enough to reach you, for not being enough to help. Tell me Iida Tenya, how many of  _ them _ are you willing to sacrifice?" 

"None I...it's not  **about** them!" Iida said with some desperation.

"It's not." The ghosts agreed. "But it will destroy them just the same." 

"Then what do I do?!" Iida wailed, falling to his knees. "What do I do with all this hatred burning through my veins?" He'd been told so often to let it go, but he couldn't. It was like telling him to let go of his own blood. He didn’t  _ want _ this hatred, but it had somehow become an inexorable part of him.

"You freeze it." The ghost answered, surprising Iida. "An out of control forest fire burns all indiscriminately. A cold rage can be aimed  _ much _ more precisely." 

Iida felt something in his chest loosen. "What do you mean?" 

The ghost looked at him as though studying him. "Do you think Stain's life means very much to him? After all, he targets heroes with no backup. He had to know he could die during any of these attacks." 

"No," Iida was forced to concede. Self preservation wasn't on this particular villains priority list. 

"Then what does?" The ghost prodded. "What is more important to Stain than his life?"

Iida focused. He's studied Stain after all, learned everything he could about his target. "His philosophy. The idea that so-called false-heroes must be culled violently." 

"Then that's what you need to destroy." 

Iida's head shot up "What?" 

The ghost crossed his arms. "Tell me, was Ingenium a 'False Hero'?" 

"Of course not!" Iida snapped. "My brother may not have had the sheer power of All Might, but he was a pinnacle of heroes nonetheless. He always looked out for those training under him and never let them face a villain they couldn't handle. Conversely he'd put himself at great risk to protect everyone around him." 

"Then that makes Stain a giant hypocrite, doesn't it. Right now Stain has a message that can resonate with people. There are false heroes. I know of one personally myself." The ghost scowled angrily. "But Stain is a man who has literally cut off his nose to spite his face. He's not doing anything constructive, he's just throwing a massive temper tantrum and calling it 'just'." 

"To destroy him you have to destroy his message. Be the pinnacle of a hero and expose those who use the title to do evil, all the while showing how pointless Stain's own methods are. Show his for the two-bit villain he is, make any one who would hear his words sneer in disgust. Cut him down in a way that will tarnish his very memory, and cement you and your brother in people's minds as a **true** force of good." 

Iida laughed. It wasn’t his normal laugh. Not a nice one by any definition. It was an insane sound he wouldn't have thought himself capable of exploding from his lungs. The ghost’s plan was  _ diabolical _ , a revenge far more thorough than the quick death he had planned. It would destroy not only Stain’s body, but his twisted little soul. And at the same time it broke no laws and brought no shame on his name or his loved ones. 

It was strange. Since he's gotten the news about the attack on Tensei he'd felt as though there was a tremendous weight crushing him. Now he felt almost  _ giddy  _ with anticipation.

"A dish best served cold, indeed." He never understood that phrase until this moment. He stood and bowed. "I thank you for your council." 

"You're quite welcome." the ghost chuckled. "By the by, if you know someone who collects pre-quirk era movies, see if you can find one called Big Hero 6. It might be worth it to view. An old series called Leverage might also be to your taste more now than it was before." 

Interesting advice. Midoriya had talked a bit about his pre-quirk era collection, mostly focusing on a quirkless hero called Batman (for obvious reasons). He may have one or both titles in said collection. 

Iida bowed again only to find himself on the streets of Hosu once more. The mansion had gone, with nothing to speak of it having ever been, save for a few fading purple-pink sparks. 

A chill went down his spine at how powerful the being who'd taken him was, and how easily that could have gone badly. Still, he had plans to make and adjust. He needed to focus on his new revenge plan and that meant excelling in this internship. He’d text Midoriya about the movies on the train ride home. It would probably bring his friend some comfort. Midoriya had been worried for him. Uraraka too. 

Iida's stomach twisted a bit uncomfortably. Now that his head was clearer he realized just how much he had been hurting those around him before he'd even done anything. He'd already be late as it was. He might as well stop by a shrine to offer a prayer of thanks to the spirit who had guided him tonight.

  
  


~

  
  


Lewis all but collapsed in relief. He wasn't sure if this was going to work. But if there was one thing a wraith could recognize it was another wraith, and that's _exactly_ what Izuku's friend had become, wrapped in flesh though he still was. And wraiths couldn't let go of their hatred - telling them to do so would achieve nothing but fanning the flames hotter. 

It hadn't been easy to shift himself into becoming something more akin to a protective spirit. And even then he still knew he was a wraith at his core. He could only hope it was easier on Tenya, who had been still new to his hatred. At least Tenya would never have to live with the guilt and regret that haunted Lewis every single day. And always would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Iida is now 'Baby Wraith' in my head. That is all


End file.
